Can you believe this is the last week of 2013? How time does fly! And the theme at Where’s My Backpack is “Birds.” This theme is timely for me. With the onset of winter weather, and a very popular red berry bush, I’ve been snapping a lot of bird pictures lately. Got any bird pictures you’d like to share? To participate in the challenge, hop or fly on over to http://wheresmybackpack.com/ to get started!

The photo challenge this week was to share a picture that represents close. In trying to pick my photo for this week, I went through several images that could represent “close” from several perspectives. In the end, I chose this image of an elephant garlic plant in my garden. I was drawn to the symmetry of the cluster. After I took the shot, I was amazed at the vibrancy of the colors within the cluster. From a distance, those colors aren’t obvious but up close they come to life.

This week’s photo challenge is the word “contrast.” To me, this photo contains several contrasting elements. Two things drew me to this scene: the contrast between the brightly colored flowers and the deep dark green foliage, and the play of light and shadows. Of course, the flag-wielding centerpiece and an onlooking ceramic duck added a bit of humor to the scene that I could not resist.